Loring School launches Let Me Run’ program

Friday

Nov 9, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 9, 2012 at 9:12 AM

Sudbury residents Samantha Greenfield and Susan Ohler ran the Wayside 5K4Kids on Saturday, Nov. 3 in Framingham’s Cushing Memorial Park with their team consisting of 13 boys from The Loring School as part of the newly introduced Let Me Run (LMR) program.

Sudbury residents Samantha Greenfield and Susan Ohler ran the Wayside 5K4Kids on Saturday, Nov. 3 in Framingham’s Cushing Memorial Park with their team consisting of 13 boys from The Loring School as part of the newly introduced Let Me Run (LMR) program.

Greenfield and Ohler, along with Meg Cahill from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High, have been training the boys for the past 8-weeks and are leading the first boys Let Me Run team in Massachusetts. After four weeks into the season, they are witnessing improvements in the team’s endurance, attitudes and individual accomplishments since so many sports in town are team based.

Letmerun.org is a nonprofit organization which began in Charlotte, NC two years ago, founded by Ashley Armistead. Armistead has seen girls participate in Girls-on-the-Run, a popular girls running club, and wondered why there wasn’t anything like it for boys. The program is open to fourth-fifth grade boys who run a 5K together at the end of six weeks of motivational training.

Early on, Let Me Run caught the attention of William Pollack, a clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and author of “Real Boys.” Pollack has called Let Me Run the poster child for healthy programs for boys. “Boys and young males are in crisis in our society,” said Pollack. He describes some blame on the “boy code”: messages telling boys they should become pumped-up heroes and winners at all costs.

“What’s unique about Let Me Run is they’ve taken the aspect of health and the aspect of sport and united them in a positive, proactive message about the psychology of what it means to grow up in a young male society,” Pollack said.

The boys are taught a lesson at each practice. They talk, play games and do activities to enforce the day’s topic which can range from anger management, to bullying to gratitude. LMR also has practical ways of building character. The boys set personal goals, be that lowering their mile distance times or stopping to walk only three times in the 5K. At practice, the boys write encouraging messages about each other on index cards, which coaches distribute as the final motivational effort, prior to them running the 5K race.

The Loring fall 2012 LMR team helped to raise holiday funds for Wayside Youth & Family Support Network, one of Massachusetts' most respected child and family service agencies. Wayside's programs for adolescents and families include family support, skill-building and care coordination services; residential, day and educational services; and mental health counseling.. Our mission is to encourage boys to stay on track to living into their full potential by inspiring healthy friend, family